Ethnic Student Center looks for a new home

In 1991, the Ethnic Student Center received the space in the Viking Union where it currently resides. Then, only five clubs existed in the ESC with 50 members. Today, it is a little bit different.

Thirteen clubs now belong to the ESC with hundreds of student members, Vice President for Diversity John Deng Duot said. The space is utilized by the members to hold meetings, do homework and relax in a safe space. The problem now, Duot said, is the space is too small to accommodate the number of students that belong to the ESC.

“[The ESC] does get crowded and we only have four computers in our homework area,” Co-Chair of El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano@ de Aztlán de WWU (MEChA), Nadia Saldana-Spiegle said. Saldana-Spiegle has organized a committee within the ESC looking for a solution to their spatial problem.

Both Duot and Saldana-Spiegle feel the ESC’s importance is overlooked because of its placement on the fourth floor in the Viking Union.

“The area is not accessible or well known,” Duot said.

Duot and Saldana-Spiegle said they will find a solution within the next month.